The First Hunger Games
by bobthebuilderisdabest
Summary: The Dark Days are over and the Capitol has control over the districts again and is forcing them to send two children from each district to fight to the death on live t.v... This is the first ever Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

I cut my finger while chopping mint leaves. I'm not surprised that this happened because I have been shaking the entire time I have been cutting. I am still shaking as I put a cloth on my finger to clean the blood that comes from my wound. It hurts but that pain isn't anything like the numbness. The numbness that comes because this very day could decide whether I live or not, the reaping, and the truth is, I don't like my odds.

It is one year after the end of the dark days. One year of going to back to slaving for the Capitol. One year after the announcement of a Hunger Games. Nobody knew what the Hunger Games were when President Carr announced them but I knew. I knew it would be like this, that there would be more death even after the fighting. So when they explained what the Hunger Games would be, how two children from each of our twelve districts would be forced to fight to the death on live television, I was the only person in my district that wasn't surprised.

When I clean off the blood and wrap my finger in a bandage I decide to take a break and go outside. When I exit our house I see my mom sitting in the corner of our room and knitting. She smiles as I pass by. My mother has never been the kind of person who talked much but wherever she went; she brought an aura of warmth along with her. I'm a bit like my mother in the silent way, but more like my dad when it came to my personality. My father is always more interested in serious things and doesn't have time for emotions like the way my mom invests her time in making sure I'm happy. Even though my dad can be cold, he always filled up the silence in our home. When I leave I tell her that I want to go for a walk and she doesn't insist that I stay and sit with her the way she normally does. I guess it's because weight that my mother feels, that every district in Panem feels, of the reminder that there was a chance that a love one could leave and never come back.

I walk out and breathe in the fresh District 7 air. Normally I would be working in the woods today, but I get the day off because of the reaping. I head over to my friend Cara's house and as usual, it is filled with life, even on a day such as this one.

Her mother wraps her arms around me and lets me in. I walk into the kitchen, where Cara's twin brother, Lauren is slicing cheese. As I walk over to great him, I take a piece of cheese and he frowns, "That's not for you, it's for tonight," he scolds me, but then smiles to let me know he wasn't serious. I place the piece in my mouth and squish it with my tongue and the roof of my mouth.

Cara walks in with her usual bounce in each of her steps and pulls me into a hug. I've known Cara all my life because her father is friends with mine. "Hi Ivory," Cara smiles at me.

"What's going on tonight?" I ask.

"A party!" Cara tells me.

"Why would you have a party today?" The idea of having a party on a day like today, when two children from our district were going to be sent out to possible death was ridiculous; in fact it was the exact kind of party that only Cara would want.

"I told you that Ivory wouldn't like it," her brother rolls his eyes. Cara responds with a "If you two really don't like this idea, then you two can spend the night together, moaning and being sad. I just want to cheer people up, to remind those who haven't been chosen that they should be happy."

"There's always a next year," Lauren says, which makes Cara hit him. After that we help her with the food for the party and decide not to comment again because there was no use in fighting with Cara, she always wins arguments.

I leave their home and head to my own. When I walk in, I discover my father is home. He says hello to me and then goes back to reading something.

The reaping is in an hour so I take a bath and put on the clothing that my mother bought for me for this day. On my bed lay a pair of dress pants and a shirt made out of silky white material, my best clothes. I put them on and I smile to myself when the silky luxurious fabric touches my skin. I imagine what it is like to live in the capitol, where they get the best food, the best materials, the best everything. Over there a shirt like this would be considered cheap. But in the districts, this costs an arm and a leg. Even though living in the capitol is tempting, I would never want to live in riches while the rest of my country starves. I walk into my mother's room to show her my clothes. When she sees them, she smiles and pulls me into an embrace. She then takes a gold expensive-looking hair clip and places it in my hand.

"This can be yours now," she tells me. I take a couple of minutes to carefully examine the beautiful hair ornament. It is in the shape of a rose. I give it back to my mother and she clips back my hair with it.

My father walks into the room and tells us that it is time to go to the Justice Building for the reaping. My mother's smile is replaced with a worried look. We walk outside and head towards the Justice Building, which is not too far away from my home. While we walk my mother takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. I continue holding her hand but when we reach the Justice Building I separate from her.

I see a friend of mine from school, Brynn, and I head over to her. She walks up to me and tells me that we're supposed to line up based on our age and gender so Brynn and I go to where the other seventeen-year-old girls are.

On the stage in front of the Justice Building sits our mayor, Mayor Walden. He bears his usual straight face. Beside him is a Capitol woman. It's easy to tell that she's from the Capitol because she has these hideous green tattoos and is sporting the oddest outfit. There is another Capitol person, this time a man, with purple skin. Brynn gives me a look and it's obvious that she has also noticed the oddness of our Capitol guests. Surrounding these people are about a dozen peacekeepers. There are tons of them everywhere today, more than District Seven has ever seen.

Mayor Walden steps up to a podium with a microphone and starts talking about the history of Panem. When he gets to talking about the Dark Days, the crowd stirs. They are probably acting out on unresolved feelings, either anger or sadness. They don't say anything but it is awfully obvious that the people are bothered.

After that long and boring speech, the capitol woman with the tattoos stands up and heads towards the podium. "Hello District Seven," she says, "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor! I'm Cass Van Cecily, and I will be District Seven's escort. All of you have your names in these two jars, one jar for boys and one for ladies. I will choose one name from each jar and those of you who are chosen, you will have the honor of competing in the very first Hunger Games."

Cass walks up to the jar for women. "Ladies first!" she literally squeals. She places her hand and lets it shift through all the names in the jar. Then she takes one piece of paper and reads it. I feel my stomach tangle itself in knots. "_Ivory Portshore_," she says looking into the crowd.


	2. Chapter 2

_Tallulah Lloyd._

I turn around and look to see if anyone is walking up but then I realize who Tallulah Lloyd is. I am Tallulah Lloyd. Everyone is staring at me. Some of the peacekeepers walk up to me and they lead me to the stage. I go up and Cass shakes my hand.

"Congratulations," is what she tells me, smiling. Of course, only someone from the capitol would think this is a good thing. Cass walks over to the next bowl to choose who will be the male tribute. She takes out a name and reads it. "Phelan Sinclair."

I turn to look at Phelan and our eyes meet. He shakes while he steps toward the stage. Of all people, Phelan Sinclair has to be the one chosen. Poor, tiny, scrawny, thirteen-year-old Phelan, who wouldn't stand a chance in the games and who couldn't hurt a fly, even if he tried, has to be a tribute. It made me sad. When he reaches the stage, he steps on to it and I can see tears forming in his eyes. I want to comfort him, but I have never been good with that kind of stuff. My mother was more like that kind of person.

Cass shakes his hand, and then makes me shake his hand. Our eyes meet for the second time and he gives me a weak smile. Phelan used to be my neighbour but his parents died after the rebellion so he moved to a different town to live with a friend of his parent's. Phelan always used to always make me teach him how to throw knives, since I learned how to do it from an uncle of mine and in return, he would give me eggs from bird nests that he found when he was working in the forest. But I haven't talked to him since he moved away. After we shake hands Cass leads us into the Justice Building.

I have never been inside the Justice Building but once I enter, I quickly notice how much of a contrast this is compared to the rest of our district. Everything in District Seven is worn and colourless but this building has so many rich shades of red, that it feels unsettling to my eyes.

A peacekeeper immediately walks up to me and leads me into these rooms, and all I can think of is how much this room made my home look like a barn.

I sit on a leather couch and allow my arms to brush the worn yet so soft fabric.

This is when our families and friends are supposed to visit one last time before we leave to the Capitol. Before we leave to the place where we will fight to the death.

I shudder at the thought. I have no chance whatsoever of coming out alive. I am tall and muscular, but awkward with no coordination. I know my way around forestry and am very handy with knives and axes but what if they don't put us in a forest environment? What if we're put on a beach or worse, a desert? What would I do then? Would I survive?

I hear a knock on the door and it interrupts my thoughts. My mother and father walk in.

My mother quickly wraps her arms around me, and rests her head on my shoulder.

My father, however, sits by us without displaying any affection. His cold behavior used to bother me so much as a child, but now I understand that he loves from afar.

My mother starts crying.

"Tallulah," my father says. "You fight as hard as you can. Give them a strong opponent."

Between sobs my mother says, "But come home. Come home to us."

My father's advice will be easy to follow; I don't plan on going down without a fight. I just don't know how to tell my mother that there is no chance that she is getting what she wants.

"I'll... try," I say.

"They take our freedom, and now they take away my daughter. My only child!" my mother cries.

"Now is not the time and place to talk about this," I tell my mother. After that I inwardly slap myself. I was being cold and horrible, as usual. When I die, it is not I who will suffer, it will be my mother.

It's a depressing thought, to think that your life would be over so soon, at the young age of seventeen. There were so many sights left to be seen, so many feelings left to be felt, and so many sounds left to be heard.

A peacekeeper walks in to escort my parents. They both hug me.

As they walk out, Cara walks in. She pulls me into a hug. "I'm so scared!" she cries.

"I am too," I confess.

"Just stay strong," she says. "Work hard, learn some tricks. You're tough, you'll be fine."

I didn't bother to tell her how much she was lying to herself. I am strong, but there are stronger people. I can work hard, but that won't match up to when others work just as hard as I do. I'm sure I'll learn some tricks, but so will the others. I'm tough, but not tough enough.

"Okay."

"I'll be having a party when you come back."

"Okay."

"I'll be watching you every second you're there."

"Okay."

"Stop answering with okay."

"Okay."

That made her laugh. She wrapped her arms around me and said goodbye before she was escorted out.

I sat alone for a few minutes, until Lauren walks in. He sits beside me and hugs me.

I feel so safe. Safer than I've been in so long. When something hurts you for so long, you stop feeling, you become numb. And then when you start feeling again, the numbness goes away and the first thing you feel is pain. That is how I feel at this moment. So pained.

Emotions build up inside of me. I feel tears bunch up in my eyes and I start sobbing. But then nervousness ties knots in my stomach. So many emotions. I feel the need to vomit, and I do.

While I vomit all over the lovely floors, Lauren holds my hair back. Then when I'm done, he hugs me again.

"I'm so scared," I whisper. I don't need to hide it anymore. I don't need to look confident in front of Lauren.

"Don't worry," he says. "I'm right here."

"Why didn't you come with Cara?" I asked him, curious.

He answers me with a kiss. It's a soft, warm kiss and it melts my heart. When he pulls away, I'm so speechless, in shock.

"I can't believe I waited until now to do that," he mutters.

"Woah," is all that comes out of my mouth.

"When you're in the arena, show them who you are. Show them that they can't just do this to you."

"Show who? The tributes?"

"No, the Capitol. President Carr for goodness sake. Show him that you're not one to be played with. Don't just be a victor, be a fighter."

I take a few moments to absorb his words and I want to say something in reply, but it's too late, a peacekeeper walks in and takes Lauren from me.

"Lauren! No!" I yell. I want to talk to him. I need to talk to him.

"Fight hard," he says.

"Lauren!"

He leaves and I'm all alone again.


	3. Chapter 3

The trains that were taking us to the Capitol made the Justice Building look like a dump. I'm not sure what that makes of my home, since the Justice building made my home look like a barn.

Complete with crystal chandeliers, soft rugs and beautiful dinnerware, the train was like a moving and luxurious house. The food was full of unknown, yet delicious new flavours that were so rich and alien to my senses.

It's like the people of the Capitol want to treat us, maybe to make the fact that twenty-three of us will die more bearable. The thought angers me. What a waste. Why use this food on kid who will die, when there are plenty of children back at home who could put this food to real use. If this meal had been given to me when I was younger, maybe then I would be a stronger person, and maybe then I would have a better chance in the arena.

But it's better to not dwell in the past.

"Isn't this all just lovely?" Cass asks us. I nod but Phelan doesn't even bother answering, he's too busy eating. I can't blame him, Phelan's never been full his entire life, like most in our neighbourhood. Even though I am from the same neighbourhood as Phelan is, my family would sometimes have good days, money-wise, and on those days we would indulge, but not on anything other than food.

Cass seems annoyed with Phelan, but she ignores his rudeness. Instead, she starts talking to me.

"Now, Tallulah, you have a great advantage," she says. "Part of winning the games is getting sponsors, who will pay money to money to make your life easier in the games.'

"Make my life easier?" I ask. "How so?"

"You could get things like medicine, weapons and food from them."

I look at her confused. "But what did you mean when you said that I had a great advantage?"

"You're quite nice to look at," she told me.

That statement doesn't surprise me. I am well aware of that fact, and I've been told it ever since I was a child.

"With the right makeup, you'll be gorgeous, sexy even, during the interview," Cass says.

"Yeah," Phelan agrees. "If she can remember to keep her mouth shut." I scowl and turn to look at Phelan.

"I just want to slap that smugness off your smile," I say, but I'm not serious.

"You see?" he tells Cass. "She's crazy. She just proved my point."

I hiss at him the way we used to when we were younger. He hisses back, catching on. Cass looks at both of us and I can practically read her thoughts as she says "Don't fight. Or... um... hiss."

I go back to eating my food in silence. On my plate is white rice, covered in some kind of sauce. The sauce is a molasses brown in color and in the sauce are vegetables like broccoli, peppers, and other unrecognizable vegetables. There also seem to be chicken and sesame seeds.

When I bite into the food, flavor fills my mouth. It tastes sweet yet sour, and it is good enough for me to take seconds, and almost a third, until Cass shouts at me.

"No!" she says. "Keep some room for desert. Besides, you don't want to get plump. Think of your interview."

I've always dreamed of being fat. I couldn't care less about what I look like, but ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to be like that. It was just the idea that I had enough food each night to fill me up with made me wish badly for that.

But being overweight in the Capitol isn't considered a good thing.

I listen to what Cass says, I have to, and she's here to help me. I don't take any more food.

When desert comes, I fill myself with these small and colorful sandwich-like cookies filled with paste. Cass informs me that they are called "macaroons".

The television is playing a recap of the reapings in each of the districts. I keep my eyes trained on the television to see my opponents.

The people from District Twelve and Eleven are scrawny little kids that even Phelan could take on. The girl from District Three is big and scary looking, same with the tributes in District Nine. The boy from District five is very strong and serious looking; I can easily identify him as trouble. The tributes from Districts One, Two and Four are all well fed, maybe they won't be able to last the harsh conditions the game-makers have set up for us in the arena. The boy from District One catches my eye. He is gorgeous. He seems as calm as he walks up to the podium after his name is called. He surveys the area with those honey colored eyes, and I can't help but feel like he is calculating everything. He seems smart yet mischievous. He will be a threat for sure; he will get sponsors easily, with his looks and win, with his smarts. He is not to be overlooked.

When Phelan and I leave to go to bed, our stomachs are overflowing. Phelan walks up to me before we walk in to our rooms. "Did you see them all?" he asks.

"Yes," I say.

"I don't stand a chance. I'm too scrawny."

"That's not true," I say, and I believe it. "You're smart. You're fast. You can throw knifes and you understand different types of vegetation better than anyone else. You'll be in some hiding spot the entire games, munching on roots until each and every one of us has killed each other."

"Yeah, whatever you say," he says dryly. He doesn't believe me. "Good night."

"Goodnight."

I go into my room and strip off my clothes, all though I want to keep them on, I like the smell of District Seven on me. I take out the beautiful hair pin given to me by my mother.

I go in to the shower. I've never had a shower before but I'm pretty sure showers aren't supposed to have so many buttons. Each one does a different thing.

After a while, I finally learn my way around the shower. I get my blond hair dried and step out of the bathroom.

I brush out my hair and put it up, so it's out of the way. I slip on this lovely purple nightdress made of a beautiful silk material and climb into bed.

But then something makes me climb out of my bed, and that is the hair pin. I want to hold the pin as I sleep. I wrap my hands around the pink petals on the flower that decorates the pin.

With the hair pin in hand, I go back to the bed. I can't help but think of my mother. I think of the way she used to play with my hair when I talked to her, I think of her sweet laughter. I miss home. My thoughts fill with memories of Cara, my mother, my father, the kind people I used to encounter back in Seven and Lauren.

Lauren, I wonder how he feels now. I wonder whether he regrets waiting so long to kiss me, I wonder whether he enjoyed the kiss. Does he miss me? Is he worried? Will he have his eyes trained on the television as I fight to the death in the arena, cheering me on and hoping for a good outcome? What would become of us if I win?

These thoughts explode in my head. I'm so curious, so curious of Lauren and all of the other people I care for. But now isn't the time for this, there are other things I must think of now.


	4. Chapter 4

Breakfast is better than dinner was.

There is a multitude of jams and jellies all lined up for the choosing. Drinks like tea, coffee, fruit juices and some warm drinks I've never tried are available too. There is all types of bread, fruit, cheese and even delicious pastries with what a server calls "icing sugar" on the side.

Apparently, you take one of the pastries, place some fruit on top and sprinkle it with icing sugar, that's what the server tells me is nice.

I try to take some of everything, having small portions of each type of food laid out.

"When we reach the Capitol, you will be taken by a prep team and dolled up for the opening ceremony," Cass informs us.

"Opening ceremony?" Phelan asks between bites.

"Yes, you will ride in a chariot dressed up in a costume that represents your district. I can imagine you two will be dressed up with a forestry themed outfit," Cass says.

"I can't think of anything worse. First they want to kill us, now they want us to look like idiots?" Phelan scowls.

"Hush, hush!" Cass scolds.

When we reach the Capitol, I am taken away into a different room.

People who look as funny as Cass does, starts stripping me of my clothes.

My prep team was made up of one woman named Fawn and two men named Flux and Grandis.

Fawn had her skin dyed a light brown with white dots down her back, I guessing it was to make her look like a fawn. Her eyes were big, like a deer's.

Flux had tattoos all over his body. There wasn't a quarter of a square foot of his body that didn't have tattoos. He was quite scary to look at.

Grandis had green hair and white powder all over his face. He was a tall and skinny man, that towered over most.

They scrubbed my skin until it was raw, then waxed me in every place possible. They even cut my long blonde locks short, at chin length. I get very angry when I see what they did.

"What have you done to my hair!" I yell.

"It looks better this way, dear," Fawn replies, calmly. "Now your chin has been softened."

She is right. I look in the mirror and I see a different person, a better looking person. I like the hair cut, even the bangs and the unevenness of it, the way one side was longer than the other.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for being rude. I didn't mean to get so angry," I say, feeling guilty.

"Oh, this one's a polite girl," Grandis says. "Don't worry, child. It's normal to be scared of change."

I nodded. I wanted so badly to hate all of the Capitol people, but I couldn't. These people genuinely want to help me, I can tell.

Flux starts working on my makeup. Gold, brown and green colors all get painted on my face. They paint my nails a green color with what seems like veins drawn on in a lighter green, the veins of leaves.

When they're done, they start examining my naked body, checking for any irregularities.

A woman walks into the room. She has purple hair and long blue fake eyelashes. "Hello," she says. "I'm Terra Nairne. I will be your stylist."

Terra examines my body as well, then lets me put a robe over it. "Well done, she looks beautiful," she tells my prep team.

"Thank you," Flux says.

"Let's have lunch," Terra tells me and leads me towards a table.

We start eating and she tells me about the opening ceremony. "As you know, you have to be dressed up according to your district. Your district's main industry is forestry so I have prepared a forestry themed outfit. I think you will like it."

When we are finished eating, Terra helps me into my outfit. She wraps these ropes around my body, made to look exactly like the vines of a weeping willow tree. She slips bracelets with pine needles on them and a tiara made of sticks and leaves is placed on my head.

When I look in the mirror, I'm not me anymore. I look beautiful.

I'm sent off to an area where all the other tributes and the chariots we are supposed to be riding are. I walk up to Phelan. His outfit is similar to mine.

"What happened to you?" he asks. "You look like a girl."

I jokingly punch him. We talk for a bit, then he walks away to look at the horses.

The boy from District 1 walks up to me. He is wearing a tunic made completely out of jewels and gold. I look across the room and see that female counterpart is dressed similarly, except she is wearing silver instead of gold.

"Is it just me, or did your hair get shorter since the reaping?" he asks me.

I smile. "It did. It isn't just you," I assure him.

"You look like the princess of trees," he tells me.

"You look like an idiot," I tell him, honestly. His costume is too flashy for my taste.

"Yes, I do," he says. "I'm Asriel Rivendell."

"I'm Tallulah Lloyd," I say.

"No you're not, you're Threat," he says.

"Do you mean to say that I am a threat or that my name is Threat?" I ask.

"The latter," he says.

"I just told you it wasn't," I say. "I just told you my name is Tallulah."

"I'm not bothering to learn names, what's the point of niceties if I'm going to kill you? I'm just labeling everyone, so I know who to target. You are a threat, the boy in twelve is a dead body."

His words anger me. "And why do I need to learn your name?"

"Figured it would be nice to know the name of the person who will kill you."

"Not if I kill you first. Why are you so cynical?" I ask.

"Because this is all just a show for the Capitol. The minute I start thinking of you people as humans is the minute I am weakened. You play your part, that's all you do. You don't devote yourself to emotions if you want to stay alive," he tells me, and now I know for a fact that he will be a threat for me.

"Why am I a threat?" I ask.

"Because you seem strong, you seem tough. But you're also pretty, and that will make it easier for you to get sponsors."

"You're quite the looker too," I say.

"So I'm a threat to you too," he smiles. I believe that it is time to get on our chariots. Best of luck Tallulah Lloyd."

"You just called me by my name, I thought you said you weren't going to do that," I say as he walks away.

He turns around for a moment. "I'm afraid I've started to think of you as something other than a target, a human."

"That's not always a bad thing," I say but it's too late, he's gone.


	5. Chapter 5

The bright lights shine in my eyes as the horses pull my chariot forward. I nearly stumble and I have to grab Phelan's arm to balance. He helps me steady myself.

I see us on the big screen. We look great. I don't look like myself. I look brave and a bit threatening.

Then I see Asriel and the girl from his district and they look great too. I had initially thought that they looked ridiculous, but now that I see them on the screen, I understand their stylists' choices. They stand out and the jewels sparkle, making them look a bit godly.

The people of the Capitol are cheering loudly. They all cheer our names. When Pheelan and I pass by the crowd, they cheer our names.

"Pheelan!"

"Ivory!"

I figure that this will be my only chance to charm the audience until the interviews so I start waving and smiling.

Pheelan sees what I'm doing and catches on. He takes my hand and lifts into the air.

The music and pounds into my ears. It is quite intolerable, but I don't let my annoyance show. I'm smiling so widely, my cheeks hurt.

I can't help but notice how nice the costumes of the tributes from Four are. Their bodysuits seem to glimmer like the scales of a fish. It's quite a nice play on the district's main industry.

I turn back to look at the other tributes and the tributes from twelve catch my eye. Their designer made the unfortunate choice of having them dress up like coal miners, but I guess that there is not much you can do with coal mining. The girl was very beautiful, but so underfed. It made me glad that Seven wasn't as poor as Twelve and Eleven.

As the chariots reach the end of the pathway, they halt to a stop and I nearly fall again.

"Seriously, Ivory, you need to work on your balance," Phelan jokes after catching me mid fall.

As President Carr gives us a speech, commemorating us on our sacrifice, Phelan turns to me to make yet another joke. "We already have a one in twenty four chance of survival, the least he could do is spare us the long and boring speech."

I can't help but smirk as I hear this. President Carr is known for having lengthy speeches. "Give the man a break Phelan," I say, trying to keep a serious tone. "There's nothing wrong with being in love with the sound of your own voice."

I can imagine myself partaking in such banter back in the districts but now that I'm here and I'm probably going to die soon, I might as well say whatever I want.

After the ceremony was all over, we were helped out of our chariots and we walked towards the elevators to the apartments in the training center. As Phelan and I stepped into the elevator, the girl from One follows us.

"Asriel, the boy from my district, told me that we were on the second floor and that we should take the stairs, but I figured, 'Why not?', this may be one of my last elevator rides ever," she explains.

As the elevator reaches her floor, she sighs, "This is me," she says. Then she looks at me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

I nod and step off with her, wondering what she could possibly want with me.

"What's your name?" she asks.

"Ivory Portshore," I reply. I start chewing on my cheeks, a bad habit I inherited from my father.

"Ivory, I'm Swann Lascius," she informs me. "I just wanted to talk to you about a certain... opportunity, you may want to call it."

"Go on," I say.

"Well, as you may know, those of us from career districts, have been training for this ever since the games have been announced. We all volunteered for it, and we are all the strongest. We plan on forming an alliance between those of us from One, Two and Four and maybe the odd person from another district. We would like to become allies with some people in the other districts, and well, that's where you come in," she says.

"I don't understand," I say, confused. "How do I play a part in this?"

"You don't... yet. We want you to join us. You seem smart, strong and you're pretty. Asriel has already labeled you as a threat and we could use your strengths."

I didn't like that idea. "But what happens when we all kill everyone and it's just us left?" I ask.

"Then I supposed we kill each other," she replies.

"Count me out," I say. "I just prefer to go at this alone."

"Your mistake," she says, sighing. "But beware: you have a target set on your back, and we won't go easy on you."

"Thank you for the warning but I think I'll do just fine," I say, and I walk back to the elevator and head up to my floor.

I walk into the luxurious rooms for the tribute from twelve and feel sick to my stomach. Everything here is so expensive and beautiful. There's food everywhere and there's way too much for all of us. And to think that while all this is surrounding the people of the Capitol, there are people in the districts that are dying from starvation.

"Ivory! There you are!" Cass calls out. "Go wash up and meet us here for dinner!"

I walk to my room and head to the bathroom. There is makeup smeared all over my face, and it will probably take a while to wash off.

I take a shower, taking my time to test out each of the different buttons in the shower. By the end of it, I smell like at least ten different scents, but I like the feeling. There is something that instantly dries your hair, but I decide to leave it wet.

I slip on a nice dress, that's soft and silky and brush my now short hair out.

I walk into the dining room and take a seat, instantly served. One of the servers pours alcohol into my glass and I decide to try it.

I take a sip, and the first thing I feel is warmth. I down the glass, and suddenly, I feel very lightheaded and relaxed.

"You two were amazing today," Cass says, looking at us the way a proud parent would at their child.

"Thank you Cass," I say. I can't help but stare at her green tattoos. "Hey, why did you decide to get trees tattooed on your face?"

"Do you like them?" she asks.

"Yeah, sure. It reminds me of home," I say after I down another glass of the alcohol. "But why a tree?"

"I got it for my mother, her name is Maple so I got a maple tree on my face," Cass says, smiling warmly.

"That's not maple, that's birch. You can tell from the ovate leaves. I would say it's a common mistake, but it really isn't," I say. I seem to have lost any type of filter I used to have. It was as if my mouth and my brain were racing and my mouth was winning.

It suddenly get really quite. Phelan looks at me and he rolls his eyes.

I can't help but get extremely angry as the lot of them glance at me like I've done something wrong. "Oh stop freaking out. It's not my fault that she doesn't know the difference between maple and birch!"

I want to yell at them all. My stylist, Cass, Phelan, and the rest of them. I want to take my anger out on them. But I'm not really angry at them though. I'm angry at President Carr, the Capitol. I'm angry at them for taking me away from home and forcing me to compete in the Hunger Games.

I rush over to my room.

"This is what happens when you drink on an empty stomach," I can hear Terra say.

I strip off my clothes and wish for the smell of the forrest. Anything from home. I wish that Lauren was with me right now. I wish that my mother and father were here too. But I know that they would be ashamed of me, for being so rude and selfish.

I can feel myself breaking down as I curl up into a ball on my bed and sob, wishing for this to be all over.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, I am too tired to function. I walk around my room like I am lifeless and I can't seem to keep my eyes open.

I put on an outfit that was set out for me, probably chosen by Terra or Cass. It is the most simple outfit I've received since I arrived at the Capitol. It is a thin and loose fitting blue t-shirt with tight black cotton pants.

I go out to the dining room for breakfast although I have no appetite. I take a piece of some kind of pie and when I bite into it, I welcome the rich taste of what is obviously apple.

Cass walks in and she seems to stare at me as if in any moment, I could explode. "We have a couple of things to discuss," she says as Phelan sits down, running his hands through his messy black hair.

"First on our list, we're going to talk about behavior," she says, glancing at me. "Stop being so grumpy, you two. Stop picking fights and stop it with the attitude. You two should be honored to-"

"Honored?" Phelan yells, standing up. "Honored? Why on earth should we be honored? I'm going to die, and it's all for your entertainment."

"You're not going to die Phelan," I say, trying to calm him down. "You have a chance."

"Now you're okay with this? Now of all times?" Phelan says, glaring at me. He is right, I shouldn't be okay with this, but I've got to be the voice of reason.

"Phelan, Cass is trying to help us. Yeah, maybe you're going to die, but if you don't, it would partially be her fault. I'm angry too but being angry isn't going to get me anywhere. Following her instructions will," I explain. He sits back down but he still looks angry. For such a small kid, he sure has a lot of fire in him. I turn towards Cass, "Go on."

"No more attitudes," she says. "Second thing we need to cover is training. Today, you two are going to have the opportunity to learn new skills and refine old ones that may help you in the arena. This will also help you learn what your up against. You'll have three whole days to do this, then you present your skills to the game makers."

"So what?" I ask. "We go down there, we do the stations and keep and eye out for all of our opponents?"

"Exactly," Cass tells me.

After we get the numberof our district pinned onto us, Phelan and I head over to the main level of the training center, the place where we'll actually be training.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to practice what we're good at in front of the rest of them?" Phelan asks me.

"But then they'll think we're weak and an easy target," I say. "And shouldn't we practice it?"

"Yeah, but maybe we should try new things. We can learn and we won't give away our strengths. We'll save that for when we're in front of the game makers," Phelan explains.

"Are you trying to sabotage me?" I joke and he rolls his eyes.

"Just stay away from knives," Phelan says and I nod.

I go to the camouflage station, following Phelan's advice. I start trying to paint my hand into the mud, but failing miserably, because my hand keeps moving. Suddenly, I can feel someone behind me I turn around to see who it is, but when I see his smirk, I scowl and turn back around.

"You know, you're generally supposed to blend in when you do camouflage," Asriel tells me and my scowl deepens.

"And I'm sure you're just the expert at camouflage," I say, sarcasm embedded in my words.

"If you want, you could practice on me," he offers and I'd be fool not to take it.

He lays his hand on the mud and I start spreading dirt on his hand with the paint brush.

"I doubt they'll have a paint brush in the arena for you," he says. "Maybe you should try doing it with just your hands.

I follow his advice but I say, "I can just ask my sponsors to send one down for me."

"That would most likely be the biggest waste of a gift. Unless, that is, you learn how to kill a person with a paint brush," he smiles as he says it, and it's probably the first genuine smile I've seen from him.

"I'll work on that," I say as I add the last layer of mud over his hand. "There, all done."

He looks at his hand and starts laughing. "That is absolutely horrible," he tells me. "I hope that, for your sake, you don't have to hide from anything, or you're dead."

I scowl and cross my arms.

"Maybe we should try something new," he says."I want to test out some of these weapons."

We head over to them and he starts taking each of them out, and I can tell that this is where he's comfortable, behind a weapon. He takes out a sword for himself and hands me a knife. "Let's test out each of these," he says.

As he gives me the knife, my fingers instinctively wrap around its handle. I wonder whether I should use it or not. I would really love to send one of these flying into the target to show off my skills but I think of what Phelan said. I shouldn't want him to know my strengths and weaknesses. I put down the knife. "I think I want to try out a spear, or even a javelin," I say, trying to cover it up.

"Knives," Asriel says as he takes the knife from my hand and sends in straight through the dummy. "That's your strength."

I pretend to look confused. "I've never really been good with knives," I fib.

"Don't bother lying. I saw the way you hand wrapped around that knife. You held it like it was part of your hand. You've obviously been trained," he says. "I was guessing you were good with axes, being from District Seven, but it seems I was wrong."

Suddenly, I understand why he's been so friendly with me. He still considers me as a threat and he was just trying to figure out what I'm good at. "Wow, you really are good at this, aren't you? Tricking me into showing you my strengths and weaknesses. And to think I almost thought you were just being nice. You really are just a pawn in their games. You've already sold your soul, just to win," I say.

"You can't win the games and still be a good person. You've got to choose between two things: a conscience or your life," he said.

"I'd rather be dead and a good person than alive and as rotten as you are." I walk away from him an head over to the knot tying station, where Phelan is. I had hoped that when we got into the arena, we wouldn't fight each other, that we would try to make a stand against the Capitol by not fighting, by not playing by their rules. That conversation with Asriel proved all my hopes wrong. There was no more humanity left in us, just survival instincts.

As I stand by Phelan, I watch as he tries to make a reef knot, and fails. My father taught me how to do this when I was younger so I help Phelan. "You're actually making it more complicated than it actually is," I say and I show him the correct way to do it and he copies me. The instructor smiles at me, as he sees the knot I made.

"I saw you talking to Asriel Rivendell again," Phelan says.

"Yes, he was helping me with the camouflage station, or so I thought," I explain. It's time for lunch, so we walk over to the tables and seat ourselves.

"I overheard Wade and Terra talking when they thought I couldn't hear," Phelan says. Wade is Phelan's stylist. "Wade said that he thought that Asriel was going to win these games. Apparently, everyone's been betting quite heavily on his win. Wade said that Asriel's stylist told him that Asriel spends every free second he has training. Apparently, he's like a robot. But I was talking to Swann, the girl from his district, and she says that he has been like that since he was a kid."

"Like what?" I ask, curious.

"Emotionless. He thinks that emotions are a disadvantage," Phelan explained.

"Well I already know that," I say, rolling my eyes as I thought of our conversations. "He said that the minute that he thinks of us as people, is the minute he is weakened. He said that you have to choose between your conscience and your life. You don't actually think he's right, do you?"

"I don't think he's far off. Do you remember my dad?" he asked me.

Phelan's dad was a rebel leader during the rebellion who was in District Thirteen when they destroyed it. "Yeah, I do."

"He once told me that when you kill another human, you lose a part of you. I was really young at the time, but I remember it, clear as day." Phelan looked sad as he told this to me.

As I think back to my conversation with Asriel, I remember telling him that I would rather be dead than like him. As I think of all the people back home that I miss, I realize that I would give up anything to see them again, to go back home and live my life, probably even my morals.

I turn around to look at where Asriel is sitting and my gaze meets his honey colored eyes. He was right, if I want to win, I've got to play the game.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few training sessions I spent more wary about giving away what my skills were. I didn't talk to anyone but Phelan and the instructors.

By the time the sessions with the game makers started, I was nervous. I was sure of what I was going to show them but I was worried about whether my talents we impressive or not. As each person had their session, I sat with Phelan, waiting for my turn.

Asriel is up first, because he is the boy from District One. He seems completely unfazed and confident, unlike his female counterpart. Swann is shaking and she keeps nervously running her hands through her hair as she gets called to go.

The girl from District Three trips on her way to the door. I've seen her during training, and while she is big and strong, she is clumsy and has bad motor skills.

When it is Phelan's turn, I wish him the best of luck. If I don't win, I would like Phelan to win. He's smart enough to do it for sure.

Then when it is my turn, I walk into the room.

The gamemakers seem grumpy as they sit in front of me. I bet they're a bit bored.

I've got to entertain them, in order to get them to like me and give me a high score.

Garric Ogilby, the Head Gamemaker, nods at me and says, "Ivory Portshore, from District Seven."

First thing I wonder about is, how am I supposed to entertain them? As I walk over to the knives, an idea forms into my head. I remember learning something when I was about fifteen. I hope I can still remember it two years later. It's a bit dangerous, but I've got nothing to lose.

The first thing I do when my hand reaches the weapon is grab it by the blade, not the hilt. I toss it high into the air and and grab it by it's hilt. I look over to the gamemakers and they seem impressed. I grab onto the knife, tossing it again. Then add another knife, then another, until I am juggling three knives.

I can hear the gamemakers applauding my trick and I hope that this earned me points.

Now I've got to show them how deadly I am.

I set down the knives and take only one. I send it flying into a dummy, right at the center of the target on its stomach. Then I move on to the next dummy, sending two at the same time, one for the head and one for the heart.

I continue throwing the knives until I've stab each and every target or dummy.

The gamemakers all applaud and I take a theatrical bow, praying for a score that will attract all the sponsors.

As I walk over to the elevator, I notice a cut on my hand from handling the knife.

When I get it fixed at the infirmary, they say it's not too deep so they just wrap it up in a bandage.

I walk to the elevator to head back up to my floor and the girl from Eight follows me and joins me. She smiles at me and I smile back.

"I really love your hair," she says. "And the costume you wore to the opening ceremony."

"Thanks, but if I had it my way, it would be different. It was all my stylist," I say, trying to sound humble.

"I wish my stylist was like that. I didn't really like my costume," she says. I remember what she wore. She was covered in layers upon layers of fabric to represent the textile industry.

"Maybe your interview outfit will be better," I say.

"Well, now that I've seen more of what these people wear, I'm not so hopeful," she tells me.

I get off the elevator at my floor and head to the living area, plopping myself on the couch.

"How was it?" Terra asks, sitting beside me.

"Good, I think," I reply. "They were quite entertained."

"Entertained?"

"I saw that they were bored, so I figured I would put on a show. I was juggling my knives," I reply.

"That's excellent!" Cass squeals, she's obviously overheard our conversation.

"What did you do, Phelan?" Terra asks.

"Nothing too great, I just threw around an axe," Phelan explains.

Wade gave him a pat on the back, "I'm sure that was awesome too."

"I have something great to announce!" Cass says. "There's been a bit of a rule change. Tributes are now allowed to bring tokens with them into the games."

"How would that apply to us?" I ask.

"Well, I found this beautiful hair pin that I believe belongs to you Ivory on the train," she says, handing me my mother's hair pin. "You can wear this in the arena. I thought that it might help you remember your home."

I look at Cass and smile. Despite the fact that I hate the Capitol's people, I can't say that I hate Cass, or anyone in this room. They've all tried so hard to keep me alive.

We have dinner than we sit down and turn on the television, to find out what our scores are.

Asriel has a ten. No surprise there. Swan received an eight. I'm pretty sure she was really good with a bow and arrow.

The Phelan has a seven. Cass starts cheering the minute Spens Selkirk announces it.

As Spens says my name, I feel myself tense up.

"Ivory Portshore, with a nice nine," he says.

Nine!

"That's bound to catch attention," Wade says. "A girl from Seven with a nine."

"Congratulations!" Terra says, wrapping her arms around me.

I go to bed feeling happy.

The next day, Cass spends the entire day preparing us for our interviews.

Cass starts with me by making me walk in high heels and a long dress. I learn how to sit and proper body language.

"When you get interviewed, you have to display a certain personality," Cass says. "I would suggest you try to be sexy, but you have an attitude that ruins it all."

"No, teach me how to be sexy," I say.

She goes through different pointers, saying things like that she'll tell Terra to design an outfit that looks sexy and that I have to wear my hair down.

By the end of the day, I'm absolutely exhausted. But I feel better about the games, for the first time, I feel like I actually have a chance.


	8. Chapter 8

I can't sit still as Grandis does my makeup and it bothers him. "Settle down!" he shouts and I apologize.

Flux fixes my hair and puts a metal clip in it that's shaped like a bow, but it looked like it was made out of vines. "To keep the tree theme," he says, smiling.

Flux, Grandis and Fawn help me in my dress and I glance in the mirror to see how it looks like.

I do look quite sexy. The dress is quite sheer and long. It flows as I move. It has sequins that hide some of my skin, yet enhance my figure, making my body look a lot more curvy than it really is. My makeup is also very dark and bold.

"I love it," I tell Terra. We have lunch, and it's rice with these vegetables and beef.

"I overheard that you were planning on being sexy for the interview," Terra says.

"Yes," I reply. "And this outfit is just perfect for it."

"Just remember, you don't have to be anything special, it's better to be relatable."

"I don't know how to relate to any of you," I say. "I've never had this much rich food, I don't live a similar life. I spend all my days going to school and working in the forest."

"Talk about family, friends. Everyone has loved ones," Terra says, putting her hand on mine, trying to comfort me. "You'll be fine."

"Thank you," I say.

Then it is time for the interviews, so I have to leave her. She gives me one last hug and wishes me luck.

The first interview shown is Swann. She acts very sweet. She keeps complementing everyone and everything.

Then Asriel goes up and the crowd is crazy for him. The first thing he talks about with the interviewer, Skene Duncain, is how much of an advantage he has over everyone. He boasts about his skill and the crowd just eats it up.

Then Skene asks Asriel if he has a girlfriend, to which Asriel replies no, saying that he hasn't found the right girl yet. It's so obvious that these lines have been given to him by his escort. The audience just loves the fact that he's single, and the fact that he's waiting for the right person.

"So, tell me about home, Asriel," Skene says.

"What about home?" Asriel asks.

"I understand that you have an older sister," Skene says.

"Yes, I do," Asriel says.

"What was her reaction when she found out about you leaving?" Skene asks.

He's obviously hit a sore spot in Asriel, because his face is full of emotion as he says, "She told me that I was an attention-seeking idiot for volunteering."

Skene laughs. "Was that it?"

"She told me that she loved me, and to make her proud."

"And will you?"

"Yes, I will. I love my sister more than anything," he says, and it gets a chorus of 'awe's.

When my turn arrives, I'm shaking like a leaf, I can't seem to remember anything that Cass taught me.

I sit down on stage as Skene asks me the first question. "How are you feeling tonight?"

I think I remember Cass telling me to be confident, but now I'm just trying to focus on forming words in my mouth. "Uh, good, I think. I haven't thrown up yet." The audience laughs.

"Yes, and that training score, second highest, a nine. Give her a round of applause for that," he says and everyone cheers.

"I must have dazzled the gamemakers," I say.

"And you sure are dazzling all of us tonight, in this dress," Skene says.

"Thank you," I say, smiling.

"I just have to say that you made quite the impression on everyone at the opening ceremony, both you and Phelan."

"Phelan and I are like the dynamic duo."

"Really? So you're close?"

"Despite the age gap, Phelan and I have been friends since we were younger. He's a sweetheart."

"He sure seems like it. What are you going to do if you win the games?" Skene asks.

"I'm going to go home to my family and friends and make sure they know how much I care for them," I reply.

"Well, they're watching right now, so why don't you tell me how much you care for them?"

"I love them so much. I love my mom, my dad and all my friends. Even my neighbors."

"Any boyfriend back home missing?"

"I'm not sure," I reply, truthfully, thinking of Lauren.

"Why is that?"

"I only ever knew he liked me until after I was reaped," I say, blushing. I don't really like telling them about this.

"Well, he sure won't be able to turn you down if you're a victor," he says, and my interview is over.

I go back to my seat and I continue watching the interviews.

Phelan goes and the audience loves him and his jokes. The people of the Capitol all roar with laughter as he jokes around with Skene.

The rest of the interviews seem to go by very slowly. The girl from eight is nice and friendly and the guy from nine keeps talking about his girlfriend. Then suddenly, they were all over.

I head over to the elevator, lifting my dress up a bit so I don't trip. Suddenly, someone grabs my arm and pulls me, so I stray from my path.

I am led to an empty and dark corner and I finally see who it is, and it's Asriel.

We're very close together, so I back away, confused, and end up backing into a wall.

Then suddenly he leans in and he kisses me and I'm kissing back.

Then he pulls away at looks at me with those honey colored eyes, and all I can think about is him.

He kisses me again, keeping his lips on mine a bit longer. He's acting so weird, he's usually so reserved and now he seems out of control. He backs away from me.

"You look beautiful," he says, and then he's gone.

I can't even comprehend what just happened, or what kind of feelings I have for Asriel. I was so sure I hated him until that second. But two things are for sure, and that is that Asriel's kiss was worse than the alcohol I drank, making me feel dizzy and lightheaded, and that I just had to have Asriel. I wanted him more than Lauren.


	9. Chapter 9

I head back up to the living quarters, my head still buzzing. The games are so close.

I went to dinner and sat in my seat. "You were both so wonderful," Cass says. "Phelan, I just loved the cat joke."

"Thank you," Phelan says.

Cass turns to me and says something, but I'm too busy thinking about Asriel.

"Ivory is too busy thinking about whatever happened after the interview," Phelan says. I glare at Phelan.

"What do you mean, Plelan?" Cass asks.

"Well, Ivory disappeared right after the interview, along with As-"

"I'm tired!" I shout, interrupting. "I'm going to go to bed."

I walk to my room and walk into the bathroom, wiping off the makeup.

As I look into the mirror, I can't help but wonder what awaits in the arena.

I am wishing for a forest. That would be the best for me. I could climb the trees and hide in there. I used to work as a climber back in my district, and I was always one of the best. And in a forest, there would be tons of animals to hunt for food, animals that I'm familiar with. Hopefully it's a mixed wood forest, with tons of pine.

The worst case scenario would be a beach. I just learned how to swim from a training station, and I'm not particularly fast. Also, where would I get water from? Mixed wood forests are acidic and moist so finding water wouldn't be a problem. I don't think that there would be much water in a beach. From what I know, there's just salt water, I think.

I head into the shower and I take a long shower. When I'm done, my hands are wrinkled from the warm water. I go and change into a thin nightgown and I head outside of my room and sit on the couch, so I can watch some television.

The only thing that plays is a recap of the games so far, with Skene Duncain and Spens Selkirk discussing it all. It's stupid, the games haven't even started yet, but they still have so much to talk about.

They are going over each of the tributes one by one, talking about the interviews and their outfits and their training score.

When they start talking about me, I turn the volume up and pay attention, maybe this will give me an idea of what the sponsors think of me.

"I don't think anybody in the Capitol will be forgetting Ivory Portshore for a long time," Skene says.

"It's absolutely astonishing. She's got this sweet and friendly exterior, but based on her training score, she quite tough," Spens exclaims.

I'm not even sure if these people have a clue as to who I am, but I'm guessing if they knew that I wasn't really that sweet, they wouldn't like me.

"And she's so beautiful," Skene says. "Her stylists have definitely caught on to that, did you see the lovely dress she had on during the interview?"

"She was quite breathtaking. But what I am really wondering about is that score. Second highest, after Asriel, from District One."

"I'm actually very excited to see what'll happen between those two tributes. They both have the highest scores, so they'll definitely be someone to watch out for. I'm hoping for plenty of encounters and good fights between the two," Skene remarks. I turn off the television and head to bed.

I'm with Skene, I have no idea what's going to happen between Asriel and I. He's teamed up with the rest of the careers and I'm on my own. Asriel's just too unpredictable to be able to tell. One minute he's treating me as a threat, the next he's kissing me.

From what I know about Asriel, he's probably just using this as a tactic. He's probably just trying to get me distracted, or even trying to get me to trust him so that he can betray me in the games.

_Asriel__Rivendale__is not to be trusted._

That's the only thought that goes through my mind. Asriel himself told me that he was willing to sacrifice his morals. No matter what he does, I won't trust him.

_Asriel__Rivendale__is not to be trusted_ is what I think as I close my eyes.

The next day I am woken up before dawn by Terra, who gives me a shift and tells me that my actual outfit for the arena will be put on in a catacomb under the arena right before the Games start.

She leads me to the roof, where a hovercraft appears and picks us up. The moment I am seated, a woman walks over to me and inserts something into my arm with a syringe.

"It's a tracker," she tells me as I wince from the pain.

"What's it for?" I ask.

"So the Gamemakers can keep track of where you are in the arena," she informs me.

We land half an hour later and Terra and I leave the hovercraft and head over to a tube that leads us underground, to the catacombs.

We head over to what Terra calls my Launch Room. I eat and then shower and clean my teeth.

Terra puts my hair up in a ponytail, then as my clothing arrives, she helps me wear it.

The outfit is a pair of grey pants over tight fitting shorts and a thin shirt and a white jacket over top. The boots I am given have loads of grip on the bottom.

"Do you see how your outfit can be used for both hot and cold weather?" Terra asks me.

"Does that mean they're will be a variety of whether changes in the arena?" I say.

"I'm not sure, but you could guess that."

Terra takes out the hair pin my mother gave me, "Cass gave this to me. She said that this was your token. I figure that it wouldn't be the best idea to wear it in you hair so you can just keep it in your pocket."

"Thank you," I say as I follow her advice.

We sit on the couch as we wait.

Then a voice announces that that it's time to prepare for the launch and I head over and stand on a circular metal plate.

"I don't think I have any helpful advice for a situation like this," Terra says, sighing.

"That's okay," I reply nervously.

She wraps her arms around me and says, "Make me proud."

I smile and thank her.

"Best of luck," she says as a glass cylinder lowers around me. She smiles as I rise upwards.

Suddenly, bright sunlight shines in my eyes. I look over at my surroundings and I see canyons everywhere. There doesn't seem to be any source of water, but there are small shrubs on the top.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the very first Hunger Games begin," Spens Selkirk's voice announces.

Then there is a sixty second countdown before the games start.

I see a cornucopia, it is filled with supplies. A set of throwing knives catch my eye and I know where to run when the Games start.

But that's also where all the action will be, by the Cornucopia. I'm fast, I can quickly run, get my knives and a backpack and be gone.

I look over and see all the other tributes, patiently standing on their metal plates. I look over to my left and see Phelan, our eyes meet and he gives me a reassuring nod. I want to nod back or even smile at him but I'm so stiff I'm practically frozen in my spot.

The suddenly the gong sounds and the Games have started.


End file.
